The most mutated variant CLINICAL MATTERS On Nov. 26, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the designation of a new COVID-19 Variant of Concern (VOC) named Omicron. This followed the observation that a SARS-COV-2 lineage B.1.1.529 was driving an increase in cases in the Gauteng...
A firsthand experience CLINICAL MATTERS Got the booster! My primary vaccine series was Sinovac, and I was given a Pfizer booster. I was the second person to get vaccinated with Sinovac in the Philippines, right after PGH director Gerardo Legaspi. Since I got my first dose last March 1, 2021 and my...
Vaccination plays a huge part in order for the country to rise against the pandemic and achieve herd immunity, an infectious disease expert reiterated on Friday, Nov. 26. (MANILA BULLETIN FILE) During the Laging Handa public briefing, Dr. Edsel Salvana, a member of the Department of Health (DOH)...
(NOEL PABALATE / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO) Amid the rise of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) variants, the adherence to minimum public health standards such as the proper wearing of masks and washing of hands, remain effective in preventing the spread of the disease, an infectious disease...
Which brand should you get? CLINICAL MATTERS With the FDA giving the greenlight for the use of boosters among healthcare workers this November, the first legal boosters have already gone into some of the A1 group’s arms, including mine. At the time of this writing, only healthcare workers have...
Ensuring Delta remains under control CLINICAL MATTERS With few exceptions, the biggest one being China, most of the world has pretty much moved on from a COVID-19 elimination strategy. Zero COVID-19, which was the goal early in the pandemic, became a near-impossibility with the rise of the...
Here’s the scientific reason we need them CLINICAL MATTERS Few things are currently as controversial as face shields. With the Philippines being one of the few countries in the world that advocate its use, the face shield has become a hot button topic and reaped a lot of scorn from politicians...
CLINICAL MATTERS Delta plus is a word combination that sent many people into a panic when it was reported in media in October. To those familiar with the havoc that the Delta variant wreaked in India and globally, the only thing that could possibly be worse is the Delta plus. Delta plus, or...
Clinical Matters Nothing is more contentious these days than the discussion surrounding additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Israel, having reached a high level of vaccination for its citizens, started offering boosters to its elderly population early on, followed by younger and younger age...
Our economy might’ve taken a hit, but we have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world CLINICAL MATTERS At the start of the pandemic last year, each country had to make hard choices in terms of its response to an unknown virus that was spreading fast. The rapid propagation of what was then...
A quick review of COVID-19 CLINICAL MATTERS Dr. Edsel Maurice T. Salvana The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways. It has also expanded our vocabulary, at least COVID-19-related terms. There remain a lot of misconceptions surrounding technical terms like strain, variant, quarantine,...
(Not just the Western ones) CLINICAL MATTERS Dr. Edsel Maurice T. Salvana Despite record numbers of cases across the world as a result of the Delta variant rampage, death rates from COVID-19 in countries with high vaccination rates have been dropping dramatically. Along with decreasing death rates...
